Ayacucho!

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Hi everyone. I'm really sorry that I haven't written sooner but its abeen a bit crazy this week, we've been really busy, I've been ill and I'm getting really pissed off with the internet connection here, which is so unreliable you wouldn't believe it! I've been able to check my bank balance for the first time this mornng, normally it just won't open the pages, very annoying!
My first week in Ayacucho has been good. Like the start of my Lima placement, our first day consisted of an orientation meeting followed by a brief visit to some of the work sites and, after lunch, a tour of some of the city. Ayacucho is absolutely beautiful and it is so nice to be away from the noise, traffic and stress of Lima. We visited a couple artesans' workshops, as that is what Ayacucho is known for, and saw some amazing stonework, weaving and embroidery.
Then on tuesday we had our first day at work. As in Lima I'm going to be working in a Wawa Wasi here, but the one I am based in is quite different to the one in Ville el Salvador. For a start it is much smaller, with only one 'mama', Gloria (the lady looking after the kids) and 8 or so children. The other difference is that the morning seemed much more unstructured than in Lima, with the children simply playing all morning, except when they stop for their morning snack, and the mama sitting watching them. I found it quite hard to find a way to get involved with the children, although as the week has gone on and the cildren have got more used to me, this has become easier. Even so I think I am going to find it harder to introduce activities here as there is no strucure to work around. However I'll persevere and I'm sure that as we all get used to each other this will get easier too. I'm still very frustrated by the communication barrier, which seems to be more of an issue here than in Lima. I try to use my dictionary to talk to Gloria but she isn't very responsive. I get the feeling that she may not be ble to read very well, and she will not take to ditionary and point words out to me as Irma and Anna would do in Lima. But again, I'm hopeful that this will improve as the weeks go on. I'm having Spanish lessons twice a week here so that should make a difference, I hope!
On wednesday we visited a little artesans village, called Quinua and some Wari ruins (wari is the civilisation that preceded the incas in this region). We first went to see the monument that commemorates the day when the peruvians won their independence from spain, which is located on the site where their final battle took place. We then walked down a very steep hill into the village and walked through the picturesque streets and artesans shops. There was so many beautiful things to see, but being aware of my budget I restriced myself to two bits of pottery and a bag. On the way back from the village we stopped at the Wari ruins and although we only had a little time to spend here we learnt about some of the history of ayacucho and saw some ruins. One of the ruins we saw looked like a stone snooker table, but was actually a sacrificial table where the waris would sacrifice food, animals and occasionally humans! We also saw an old burial chamber and some of the members of the group went down into this dark, stone tunnel. I preferred to stay above ground to hear more of the history surrounding it. Unfortuately we soon ran out of time here and had to return to the house.
On thursday, we had a talk about the history of Ayacucho, in particular about the impact of the Shining Path terrorist group in this area. Ayacucho was one of the areas most affected by the group, and many people were killed here, not only by the shining path but also the military groups sent in to combat the terrorism. This is a very sad part of peruvian history with thousands of innocent people killed. The talk was particularly interesting because Marisol, who is one of the CCS staff here and was translating the talk for us, remembered her experiences of the shining path and the killings in the city. She has some very sad memories which she recounted for us and really helped us to understand the impact for the peasants and residents of the local area. Following the talk, we walked down to 'gringo plaza' (a square by the main plaza where all the gringos hang out), where Marisol, Tori and Urvi (some of the volunteers from a previous start dates) were having a sale of some of the things that were made by the women in the prison. Tori works with these women, most of whom are in prison on drug trafficking offences, and the are trying to empower them by selling the goods they make for a profit to give the women an income. Although the sale was not hugely successful, some things were sold and another sale is to be held next thursday, allday and in the main plaza. We're hopeful that this sale will be more successful.
Unfortunately, I ws feeling pretty ill all afternoon, with a bad stomach, and although we went out to dinner that night because one of the guys Andrew left yesterday, I felt increasingly unwell and did not eat or drink anything. I left as soon as was possible and woke up the next day feeling worse. So my day yesterday was pretty boring. I didn't go to work as I didn't feel well enough and slept most of the morning. I also missed the frst salsa lesson which I was dissappointed about. The other disappointment was that I was supposed to be going away this weekend, on a Llama trek up in to the mountains. No, I wouldn't actaully be riding a llama, simply walking them further up the mountains. As I was so ill yesterday, and we would be going up to very high altitudes (as high as 4,600 metres above sea level) I decided it was probably not a good idea to go. So this weekend I am staying at the house with the four other people who decided not to go and trying not to be jealous of the other guys who are probably having lots of fun!
So thats basically my first week in Ayacucho. The guys all see really fun, altho there are one or two who are already getting on my nerves, and I think on the whole we're going to have a lot of fun. Next weekend we may be going on a trip to the coast to see the nazca lines, and I'm hoping that I'll be well enough for that!
Hope everyone at home is well. Please email me or message me with your news, would be good to hear from you. Bye for now.

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